Global Journalist: As peace talks increase, suicide bombings intensify

On Jun. 20, 2002, Stuart Loory addresses Hamas’ most recent response to Western stepped-up talks to bring about peace to the West Bank. The guests debate on whether Israeli and Palestinian citizens aim to live as peaceful neighbors

Is implantable cardioverter defibrillator surgery in patients with an implanted left ventricular assist device safe under uninterrupted oral anticoagulation?

Abstract Background: Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) surgery in patients with implanted left ventricular assist devices (LVAD) is associated with an increased risk of bleeding complications because of the need to ensure that these patients are adequately anticoagulated. Our study aimed to evaluate the safety of our new strategy of uninterrupted oral anticoagulation compared to heparin-bridging during the surgical interval. Methods: Between January 2009 and January 2020, 116 patients with LVAD underwent ICD surgery. Since January 2015, 60 patients were operated under continued sufficient oral anticoagulation with a vitamin k antagonist (VKA group). Fifty-six patients underwent a heparin-bridging regimen (heparin group). Demographics, perioperative data, complications, and mortality were analyzed. Results: Bleeding complications attributable to the surgical intervention occurred more often (19.6% vs. 10.0%, p = 0.142) and at a higher rate of re-exploratory surgery (14.3% vs. 5.0%, p = 0.088) in the heparin group without reaching statistical significance. Moreover, the heparin group patients' postoperative total length of stay was 10 days longer (17.8 ± 23.8 days vs. 8.3 ± 9.5 days, p = 0.007). There were no procedure-related deaths, no thromboembolic events, and no LVAD-related thrombosis. Conclusion: Our strategy of uninterrupted oral anticoagulation is safe and results in a reduction by more than half the number of days in hospital without an increase in adverse events

The Visibility of (In)security: The Aesthetics of Planning Urban Defences Against Terrorism

Urban defences against terrorism have traditionally been based on territorial interventions that sought to seal off and surveil certain public and private spaces considered targets. Lately, though, a much wider range of crowded and public spaces have been viewed as potential targets and thus have been identified as requiring additional security. This has immense implications for the experience of the ‘everyday’ urban landscape. Drawing on contemporary notions that incorporate the study of aesthetics and emotions within critical security and terrorism studies, this article discusses the visual impact of counter-terrorism security measures. It analyses the ‘transmission’ of symbolic messages, as well as the variety of ways in which security might be ‘received’ by various stakeholders. The analysis takes place against the backdrop of concern that obtrusive security measures have the capacity to radically alter public experiences of space and in some cases lead to (intended and unintended) exclusionary practices or a range of negative emotional responses. The article concludes by outlining a ‘spectrum of visible security’ ranging between traditional obtrusive fortified approaches and approaches that embed security features seamlessly or even ‘invisibly’ into the urban fabric

The motivations for the adoption of management innovation by local governments and its performance effects

This article analyses the economic, political and institutional antecedents and performance effects of the adoption of shared Senior Management Teams (SMTs) – a management innovation (MI) that occurs when a team of senior managers oversees two or more public organizations. Findings from statistical analysis of 201 English local governments and interviews with organizational leaders reveal that shared SMTs are adopted to develop organisational capacity in resource‐challenged, politically risk‐averse governments, and in response to coercive and mimetic institutional pressures. Importantly, sharing SMTs may reduce rather than enhance efficiency and effectiveness due to redundancy costs and the political transaction costs associated with diverting resources away from a high‐performing partner to support their lower‐performing counterpart

Evaluation of risk factors for a fulminant Clostridium difficile infection after cardiac surgery: a single-center, retrospective cohort study

Abstract Background Clostridium difficile (CD) is the most common pathogen causing nosocomial diarrhea. The clinical presentation ranges from mild diarrhea to severe complications, including pseudomembranous colitis, toxic megacolon, sepsis, and multi-organ failure. When the disease takes a fulminant course, death ensues rapidly in severe and complex cases. Preventive screening or current prophylactic therapies are not useful. Therefore, this study was conducted to detect risk factors for a fulminant CD infection (CDI) in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Methods Between April 1999 and April 2011, a total of 41,466 patients underwent cardiac surgery at our institution. A review of our hospital database revealed 1256 patients (3.0%) with post-operative diarrheal disease who tested positive for CD; these patients comprised the cohort of this observational study. A fulminant CDI occurred in 153 of these patients (12.2%), which was diagnosed on the basis of gastrointestinal complications, e.g. pseudomembranous colitis, and/or the need for post-cardiac surgery laparotomy. Demographic, peri-operative, and survival data were analyzed, and predictors of a fulminant CDI were assessed by binary logistic regression analysis. Results The 30-day mortality was 6.1% (n = 77) for the entire cohort, with significantly higher mortality among patients with a fulminant CDI (21.6% vs. 4.0%, p  130 min (OR 1.93, CI 1.12–3.33, p = 0.017). Conclusions We identified several independent risk factors for the development of a fulminant CDI after cardiac surgery. Close monitoring of high-risk patients is important in order to establish an early onset of therapy and thus to prevent a CDI from developing a fulminant course after cardiac surgery